Solvent applicator for imprinting machines



NOV. 3,;1953 J, A, WEBER 2,657,665

SoLvEN'T APPLICATOR FOR IMPRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 195o 2sheets-sheet 1 Mft-; -4; ff

M U gd!! f v Nov. 3, 1953 J. A. WEBER 2,657,665

SOLVENT APPLICATOR FOR IMPRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 195o 2sheets-sheet 2 atented Nov. 3, 1953 .rse'p'ii A. Weber;Prospeefireigiite, nr triieatidnneeember51it eiiaitibr milizie zeieiiiie. (ci. irse-zeer This iiiventitn 'tere-tes 'te rieti drieiiiiii'" ed solvent applicator f orusfin imprinting achiries; in palobject. di* ths in v `so "ent 'applying nie mae constituting i device..f my coperidineeriilicaiiiqn f oi perdit tited Addressing Machine?Serial No.v 633421 and led Decernler 3', T948, now Patent No.

head.

further iinportant oject. [of this. inventionisthe provision of meansfor maintaining' a weil iiile'dj w tf1 liquid mi; solvent.

hr 'and Still further important Object "of thi' ntion is to protlde.type'applicator n rm ny disposed in a bien of liqid servent and. o abriresting one wick ecrite' d within the Wl! and'. said applicator errangand con,H structe'dto .be yieldabi'e upwardl" a limited disterr'e `fortire purs-.dse oi der; itii'ig a strip; di liquid solvent on thel topsurfaceof an envelope oiicard torceivethe printing transfer.

[ther arid rfurther important' eiect's shan becin app 'rent fromthedisciosur s in It h.'e f 01 l lwing 'specification and accompanyingdrawing. 11.11111# drawing.: ..4 Figure 1 is a perspective view di theaudresriiig machine incorporating the solvent applicator of tiiisinvention.

. 2 isa front elevational vietri of a portion f' the device as showniiiFigure: i.

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the device of Figure 4 is a sectionalView taken i the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a sectional Viewtaken on the li'ne 5--5 of Figure 3.

Asif-shown, in. the. drawings;

The reference numeral I.I) .indi62tes.genera11y a supportingy base forthe addressing inachine incorporating the Wick type mistener of this intion. The supporting base-includes a lo'e.l or topV 'surface II whichhas a 'guide' rail I2 extend- 'along the rear edge thereof. A epresfsedportion I3V of the bedr I I is qiiippedwitna sponge tler strip I4constituting th p1aten of the eslsingrnachine. My cpentiing patent ap'-pitid'n, Seal N0. 63,421, mentioned atb'v'dscribes the operation of vapressure head I5 in conjunction with the platen The pressure headcomprises an operatingar it the rear ofthe supporting base I0 at II fori te 'means fur'iuuij en..

` Weli Se as ybest 'shown in Figures 4 and 5.

' I mme increment toward. and; may ee. i hier platen I 4.- A. hec I1'..I .isv carriedon as u .11p 'onga take-11p. .SpQ'QL .20..

cture 2.|. is. rigidly mounted will; IIL and carries. a Wick4 h 131g;.et 2.2.. infelici or otherwise. fastened t9 th structure 2 ,I 1,623...A portionzll of the b rla Ret 22 is disposed horizontally and paralleltu the eddie of. the breguet z2. jo s, the parall l prtio 211. andcarries a flaty s'p ing c rvd I'eOrtfQIi.. (f. theghraclset A. .felt01.v other rfolis. fi/ick aisles/tened. .by ritetso.

' 'g Screw 3llthreaded1y erisgfs .IillidQSd DOtIil Of. thebrecli 22 andabuts the fl'at spring 26 at a position where. it. liesfiirr contactwith the spring Zia Qll beneath the. ttchment O f the springs to. the.bzljt lili-the 'attaching rivet 2.11.r Ath 111g knuried' n d :il` on thescrew 30p Q'fgihe. .spring wick.. A. .thumb engaging.. knurled he'agi :Mis provided onthe upper end of the screw 3.2 ad 'permits manuel(.adjustment 'of the vertical DI Ii.. @flle .SJ'QW 32 With CSDBC t0 theWick. 1i beekft .22. and the Wick- AS shown in. F1 ad of the screw 32 isspaced above shoulder 39a on the forward side of the well 39 is for thepurpose of positioning the well with respect to the bed. A bracket 40extends across and engages the undersides of the well like container 99and the well 35 thus holding them both up against the base support I bymeans of a screw 4l. An inlined cut-off 42 of the lower end of thetubular discharge 3B rests on the bottom i8 of the tubular well 39. Anipple fitting is in the iront side of the bottom of the well 39provides a connecting means for a flexible conduit 45. rfhe conduit 45thus joins the fitting 44 at one end and its other end is fastened to anipple fitting 49 in the corner of the rear and side of the bottom ofthe wick well 35 in the central portion of the platen bed. Liquidsolvent is thus transmitted from the reservoir 36 to the wick well 35. Ablock type wick 41 is positioned in the well 35 and by means ofcapillary action carries the liquid ink solvent upwardly to the topportion of the wick. Thus the spring held wick 28 is normally held indirect contact with the well wick 4l causing the Wick v28 to be chargedwith solvent.

As best shown in Figure 1, an operator slides a card or the like i9across the bed. Il of the imprinting machine against the opposing actionof the spring held wick 28 causing the wick 28 to be swung upwardly outof contact with the wick ai' in the liquid solvent well 35 and by reasonof the flat spring 26 the felt wick 28 is urged downwardly against thecard 49. As shown in the dash line position of the wick 28 in Figure 4at 55 the wick rides on the top surface of the card imparting a strip ofliquid solvent thereto. The strip of moistened surface lies directlyover the sponge rubber platen id whereupon a downward movement of thepressure head l5 causes the hectographic master roll I8 to be pressedagainst the solvent impregnated portion of the card 49. The card is thusimprinted with a transfer of a portion of the hectographic ink from themaster roll.

The wick 28 of this invention thus provides positive and adequatemoistening of the card or envelope to be imprinted without the aid ofcomplex rolls or other moving parts. The spring held wiel: 29 lying onthe wici; in the well 35 on the surface of the bed i l automaticallyperforms the moistening of the material to be imprinted andautomatically reenters the well 35 and reengages the wick 4l forrestoring liquid thereto as soon as the initial card or envelope passestherethrough to the imprinting position on the platen i4. The wick. isthus always charged with suincient liquid solvent to properly impregnatethe succeeding card or envelope to be imprinted.

In the operation of the device of this invention the first adjustingscrew 30 acts as a fulcrum for the flat spring 26 and the secondadjusting screw acts as a limit device for the upward swinging movementof the wick 28. It is thus apparent with the present apparatus themoistening of the tcp surface only of the card or envelope to beimprinted is accomplished with the supply of liquid solvent located in awell on the surface of the rbed l i whereas heretofore complex meanswere required to transfer the liquid solvent from a low storage positionto an upper position over the material to be imprinted. In combinationwith the limit adjusting screw 32 which compensates for variousthicknesses of paper stock being imprinted the moistening apparatus ofthis addressing machine functions to paint a strip of solvent in theright position on the material to be imprinted only on the top surfacethereof and as a normal function of the machine the wick is continuallyrecharged with liquid solvent after the passage through the machine ofthe card or other paper to be imprinted. The manual sliding of the card49 across the bed I l from the left side thereof as viewed in Figure 1to the right side automatically causes the wick to rise out of the well35 out of contact with the well wick 41 and deposit liquid solvent onthe surface thereof whereupon when the card arrives at its imprintingposition on the platen I4 it is ready to receive a transfer of thehectographic ink from the master roll.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be variedthroughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosedherein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereonotherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A liquid applicator comprising a support,

vsaid support having therein a transversely extending liquid well, alongitudinally extending superstructure carried on said support abovesaid liquid well, a leaf spring fastened to said superstructure andextending in a longitudinal direction, a longitudinally extendingyieldable wick fastened to and forming a part of said leaf spring Ianddisposed beneath said superstructure, said yieldable wick having an endthereof depending within said well, and a liquid reservoir adjacent saidsupport and having means arranged and constructed to supply liquid tosaid well, a wick disposed within said well and beneath the top surfacethereof, whereby when sheet material is slid across the said support itis coated on its top side with a liquid as it raises the yieldable wickout of the well from a position in engagement with the wick within thewell whereafter the yieldable wick rides on and across the top surfaceof the sheet material, a vertically adjustable screw means threadedlyengaging said superstructure adjacent the well engaging portion of theleaf spring and yieldable wick for regulating the amount of upwardswinging thereof, and a fulcrum forming adjustable screw threadedlyengaging said superstructure and abutting said leaf spring and yieldablewick at the end thereof adjacent said superstructure and `away from saidwell.

2. A device as set forth in claim l in which said yieldable Wickincludes a fibrous material `and said leaf spring includes verticallyspaced apart portions disposed above and below the fibrous material, andthe lower of said leaf spring portions being foreshortened so that thefibrous material is uncovered at its lower end to be recharged withliquid from the well wick.

JOSEPH A. WEBER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,184,612 Eaton Dec. 26, 1939 2,215,495 Berman Sept. 24, 19402,269,086 Morris Jan. 6, 1942 2,360,648 Copeland et al. Oct. 17, 19442,398,888 Ford Apr. 23, 1946 2,503,185 Wright Apr. ll, 1950 2,542,443Weber Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,303 GreatBritain May 3, 1892

